I’d consider myself to be a semi-crafty person. I like crafting, to a degree. A little project here and there is fun, but too much of one, especially one that requires lots of precision and exact measurements, and I’m stressed out and frustrated. Because of this, when it comes to Lil’ CB’s birthday parties, I keep the crafting and DIY to a manageable minimum. I’ll throw together enough small projects to pull a theme together, but I’m definitely not one of those mommas that will fold and create hundreds of paper flowers for a backdrop! Don’t get me wrong — I adore that kind of decor and find it lovely, but I would probably walk away from that in tears and with cut up or burned hands… because in addition to being wary of difficult crafts, I tend to be on the klutzy side!

Given all of that, the one DIY craft that has remained consistent for the three parties I’ve thrown for Lil’ CB is his birthday banner. It’s a simple enough craft where I can get it done in a few hours (or even less with some help!), but has enough of a presence to make a theme stand out. Let’s take a look back at Lil’ CB’s past birthday banners, shall we?

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I can’t even take credit for this first banner! For Lil’ CB’s 2nd birthday party, I decided to go with a circus theme and worked with my dear friend, Mrs. Paintbrush, on the design for this banner, as well as the other paper items at this party. And what I mean by that was, I sent her some frenzied emails that said something along the lines of “Circus theme! Turquoise and red! I love elephants!” and she worked her magic. We hung the banner above the dessert/cake table and it was a great way to tie that corner together. It became a great backdrop for a lot of our photos!

Lil’ CB’s 3rd birthday was a Candyland theme. (You can read more about that party in this previous post.) For this party, I chose to do a banner made to look like different kinds of candy.

I freehand drew out different types of candy onto construction paper and cut them out. Then I printed large letters to say “happy birthday” and cut them out and glued them onto the paper candy pieces. For Lil’ CB’s name, I found a Candyland font, typed out his name in large letters, glued them to cardstock, and then cut them out.

When it came time for Lil’ CB’s 4th birthday party, I wised up a bit and found an adorable, colorful, felt “Happy Birthday” banner from Target that could be reused again and again. All I had to make were the letters for Lil’ CB’s name. Being that it was superhero themed (more on that party here), I made the letters in his name to resemble different superhero logos:

Again, I just drew the letters and logos freehand based on images I found online. It was a quick and easy craft, but easily my favorite project and piece from that birthday party. We still have the banner and Lil’ CB has asked to have it hung in his room.

Lil’ CB has already decided on a theme for his 5th birthday party: sports! And I’ve already got this year’s banner planned out in my head, too. For this party’s banner, I’ll be reusing the “Happy Birthday” felt banner and then making Lil’ CB’s name out of different sports teams’ logos!

Right now, I’m thinking of fashioning the C in his name to closely resemble the Green Bay Packers’ G, because otherwise, my green-and-gold-bleeding husband would be devastated that we are not paying homage to the Packers. He (half-seriously) suggested we just call Lil’ CB “Garson” for the day. The A will be from the Atlanta Braves (or the Anaheim Angels… depends on Lil’ CB’s behavior leading up to the big party – ha!); the R will be from the Houston Rockets (as a little farewell homage to Jeremy Lin because we’ll have a hard time rooting for him now that he’s playing for the Lakers… the S from the reigning NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs; the O from the Baltimore Orioles; and the N from the New York Giants. We’ll have nice even distribution of teams from the NFL, MLB, and NBA!

I’m actually really looking forward to working on this year’s birthday banner and I’m hoping this will continue to be my DIY contribution to my children’s parties for years to come!

What do you DIY for your LO’s parties?